William Halliwell Demaine (25 February 1859 – 18 August 1939) was a newspaper editor, trade union official, and member of both the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

and the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Early life

Demaine was born at

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Yorkshire, to parents Joseph Demaine, cabinetmaker,Demaine, William Halliwell (1859–1939)
–

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 7 April 2015. and Elizabeth (née Halliwell). At around age 15, he went with his family to Uruguay and Argentina where he worked as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

, returning to England in 1879. He landed in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in March 1880 and began work as a

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

for Fairlie & Sons and within two years had formed an Eight Hour Association and participated in a campaign to remove black labour from the sugar industry. Leaving Fairlie & Sons in 1890, he set about forming the General Labourers' Union, which was later absorbed into the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

and as Secretary of the Wide Bay and Burnett Branch of the Australian Labor Federation, he helped organize support for the shearers in the 1891 strike. In 1892, Demaine represented the Maryborough Workers' Political Organization at the first Labor-in-Politics convention before being elected to the central political executive in 1892–94. Along with Charles McGhie, he founded the weekly newspaper ''Alert'' which he edited until his death. In 1901 he once again attended the Labor-in-Politics convention and until 1938, every convention thereafter. Elected president of the central political executive in 1916, he held the role unopposed for the next 22 years.

Political career

When the Labour Party starting forming governments in Queensland, it found much of its legislation being blocked by a hostile Council, where members had been appointed for life by successive conservative governments. After a failed

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in May 1917, Premier

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

tried a new tactic, and later that year advised the Governor, Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, to appoint thirteen new members whose allegiance lay with Labour to the Council.Goold-Adams, Sir Hamilton John (1858–1920)
– ''

''. Retrieved 7 April 2015. Demaine was one of the 13 new members, and went on to serve for four and a half years until the Council was abolished in March 1922. He was also an alderman on the Maryborough City Council on two separate occasions – 1896 to 1900 and 1924–1939, serving as mayor from 1933 until his death in 1939. When James Stopford, the member for the state seat of Maryborough died in November 1936, Demaine, as the Labor candidate, easily won the resultant by-election held on 27 February 1937, becoming the oldest person to enter Queensland Parliament. He held the seat for just over a year before deciding not to stand at the 1938 state election.

Personal life

At Bradford on 10 January 1880, Demaine married Mary Susannah Preston and together had nine children. Demaine died at Maryborough on 18 August 1939. He was awarded a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, and buried in

Maryborough Cemetery Maryborough Cemetery is a cemetery in Walker Street, Maryborough West, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery and its heritage-listed Mortuary Chapel have importance to the local community as the principal place of ...

.Cemeteries Online
–

Fraser Coast Regional Council The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains Fraser I ...

. Retrieved 7 April 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demaine, William Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Queensland Legislative Council 1859 births 1939 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland British emigrants to colonial Australia